Readers who for two decades have been following the fortunes of the dragonriders and other inhabitants of the planet Pern will welcome the latest volume, chronicling the early years. It stands very much on its own, however; knowing about the later history of the planet only adds enjoyment. After 15 years of cold sleep, 6000 colonists land on Pern, seeking a simpler existence, escaping the aftermath of interstellar war and an overly technical society. The colony prospers until the consuming Threada force that destroys all life it comes in contact withmakes its first appearance.
Kai and Varian awoke from their forty years of coldsleep only to discover that mutineers had taken over Ireta. But they were determined to save their planet and its unusual dinosaurs. All they had to do was solve the planet's myriad mysteries and gain the trust of the most dangerous beings in their Universe....
On Earth they had died out 70 million years ago. But on Ireta they ruled in all their bizarre splendour. The Dinosaurs. Relics from a forgotten age, they roamed a planet as mystifying as any in the galaxy. And the expedition sent to explore it was trapped within its toils as quickly and mysteriously as their relief ship disappeared. And worse. For the Heavyworlders, half the expedition's personnel, reverted to type, and as predatory carnivores systematically hunted down their colleagues. Only the frozen sleep of cryogenics offered an escape. But for how long?
McCaffrey continues to develop her brainship concept, with a new collaborator this time, the one who worked with her on The Death of Sleep (1990). The brainship Carialle and her brawn, Keff, find a habitable planet inhabited by an apparent mix of races and cultures and dominated by an elite of apparent magicians. Appearances are deceiving, however, and by the time the explorers have discovered the planet's secrets--not to mention other intelligent races--they find themselves in a desperate battle to save it.
Those familiar with McCaffrey and Scarborough's first SF trilogy about life on the sentient planet Petaybee will best appreciate this solid start of a new series, which picks up where Power Play (1995) left off. Murel and Ronan, the precocious twins born to Maj. Yanaba Maddock-Shongili, administrator of Petaybee, and geneticist/selkie Dr. Sean Shongili, lead an idyllic, if frigid, life on the icy planet for their first eight years.
